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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.2.74.pr-29.2.74.4

Mistake in Payment of Condition and Entry by Slaves

Passage 4477 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This chunk discusses the effects of a mistaken belief regarding the amount ordered to be paid on the fulfillment of a condition for entering an inheritance, as well as the legal status and heirship of a good-faith slave or a statuliber who enters an inheritance while ignorant of their own freedom.

[IDEM libro duodecimo ad Plautium. ] §29.2.74.prQui putat se decem dare iussum, cum quinque iussus sit, si decem dederit, fiet heres adeundo.
[THE SAME, from the twelfth book on Plautius.] He who thinks that he was ordered to give ten, although he was ordered to give five, if he gives ten, will become heir by entering upon the inheritance.
§29.2.74.1At si quinque putet se iussum dare, cum decem dare iussus est, et dat quinque, non implet condicionem, sed ad aliquid proficit, ut, si adimpleuerit reliquum, aliorum quinque datione uideatur condicio esse impleta.
But if he thinks he was ordered to give five, although he was ordered to give ten, and he gives five, he does not fulfill the condition, but it is of some benefit, so that, if he makes up the remainder, the condition may be deemed to be fulfilled by the payment of the other five.
§29.2.74.2Qui bona fide seruit si quasi iussu domini adierit, non obligabitur.
If a person who serves in good faith as a slave enters upon an inheritance as if by the order of his master, he will not be bound.
§29.2.74.3Similis est huic statuliber, qui iussus ab herede adire hereditatem post condicionem libertatis existentem, cum hoc ignoraret, adiit.
Similar to this is the case of a statuliber who, after the condition of his freedom has been fulfilled, although ignorant of this, entered upon the inheritance when ordered to do so by the heir.
§29.2.74.4De eo, qui heres institutus ab aliquo dubitat, an libertas ei ex testamento domini optigerit, cum nesciat condicionem libertatis exstitisse uel hereditatem aditam, an adeundo heres fiat, uidendum.
Regarding a person who, having been instituted as heir by someone, doubts whether freedom has come to him from the testament of his master, since he does not know that the condition of freedom has been fulfilled or that the inheritance has been entered upon, we must consider whether he becomes heir by entering.
Iulianus hunc diceret fieri heredem.
Julian would say that this person becomes heir.

Notes

  1. §29.2.74.prcum quinque iussus sit — The concessive clause introduced by `cum` with the subjunctive (`iussus sit`), meaning "although he was ordered [to give] five".
  2. §29.2.74.1sed ad aliquid proficit, ut, si adimpleuerit reliquum, aliorum quinque datione uideatur condicio esse impleta — The `ut` clause expresses the result or effect, indicating that even an incomplete payment has some utility because the condition can be deemed fulfilled if the remainder is paid later.
  3. §29.2.74.2Qui bona fide seruit — A Roman law concept referring to a free person who mistakenly believes himself to be a slave and serves as one in good faith.
  4. §29.2.74.4De eo, qui heres institutus ab aliquo dubitat, an libertas ei ex testamento domini optigerit, cum nesciat condicionem libertatis exstitisse uel hereditatem aditam, an adeundo heres fiat, uidendum — The sentence starting with `De eo ...` poses a topic for discussion ("Regarding him ..., it must be considered whether ..."), which is completed by the indirect question `an adeundo heres fiat`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.2.74.pr-29.2.74.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.2.74.pr-29.2.74.4

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